Bothwell Browne (born Walter Bothwell Bruhn; 1877–1947) was a

Danish American Danish Americans ( da, Dansk-amerikanere) are Americans who have ancestral roots originated fully or partially from Denmark. There are approximately 1,300,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent. History The first Dane known to have arri ...

stage and film performer, best known as a

female impersonator A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

Early life

Born in Copenhagen, Browne grew up in San Francisco and developed a vaudeville act. At one point he was performing as a duo with male impersonator Kathleen Clifford.Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in ..., Volume 1 By Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman, Donald McNeilly, page 150 He was in New York by 1908, when ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reports him as suing

Texas Guinan Mary Louise Cecilia "Texas" Guinan (January 12, 1884 – November 5, 1933) was an American actress, producer and entrepreneur. Born in Texas to Irish immigrant parents, Guinan decided at an early age to become an entertainer. After becoming a st ...

over the rights to a

Gibson Girl The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in th ...

stage act.

Career

Deliberately or not, Browne competed with the better-known female impersonator

Julian Eltinge Julian Eltinge (May 14, 1881 – March 7, 1941), born William Julian Dalton, was an American stage and film actor and female impersonator. After appearing in the Boston Cadets Revue at the age of ten in feminine garb, Eltinge garnered notic ...

. Some audiences and theater managers found his act more seductive and therefore more unsettling than Eltinge. Browne's Broadway production ''Miss Jack'' opened in September 1911 at the

Herald Square Theater The Herald Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1883 and closed in 1914. The site is now a highrise designed by H. Craig Severance. History The Park Theatre opened in 1883 (also known as the New Park Thea ...

, exactly one week before Eltinge's more successful '' The Fascinating Widow''. Browne's only film appearance is the 1919

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

production ''

Yankee Doodle in Berlin ''Yankee Doodle in Berlin'' is a 1919 American silent comedy and World War I propaganda film from producer Mack Sennett. It was Sennett's most expensive production up to that time. Hiram Abrams was the original State's Rights marketer before th ...

'', Sennett's highest-budget film up to that point, and a bit of World War I propaganda. This release was parallel to Eltinge's anti-German film ''Over the Rhine'' (re-cut into ''

The Isle of Love ''The Isle of Love'' is a 1922 recut of a 1920 American silent drama film ''Over the Rhine'' aka ''An Adventuress'' starring female impersonator Julian Eltinge. The film also contained two actors unknown during filming: Virginia Rappe and Rudo ...

'' three years later). The same year, Browne appeared as the headliner at the Palace Theater in New York, the single most sought-after booking in American vaudeville, in December 1919,Encyclopedia of Vaudeville, Anthony Slide, page 69 supported on stage by the

Sennett Bathing Beauties Sennett Bathing Beauties was a bevy of women performing in bathing costumes assembled by film producer Mack Sennett during the silent film era. Description The Sennett Bathing Beauties appeared in Mack Sennett comedy short subjects, in promotion ...

. This appears to be the pinnacle of his career. He thereafter retired to teach dancing classes in San Francisco, and died in Los Angeles at age 79-80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Bothwell 1877 births 1947 deaths Male actors from Copenhagen American male silent film actors American male stage actors American drag queens Vaudeville performers Danish emigrants to the United States 20th-century American male actors LGBT male actors

Early life

Career

See also

References